"What this bill needs is some 'extreme vetting' ... because it has not been vetted in any public forum," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D- Texas) borrowing the term President Trump has used in explaining the purpose of his executive order on immigration.

Doggett proposed an amendment to delay the mark-up until at least one public hearing had been held to allow expert witnesses to share their perspectives of the bills impact.

Americans won't buy a car or an appliance without knowing how big it will be or how much they will pay, he said.

"We don't know the cost, we don't know what it covers, and we don't know who it leaves out," Doggett said of the new legislation, which has not yet been scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Doggett's amendments and several similar revisions that aimed to delay the mark-up and stall a final vote were effectively benched by the committee.

Democrats also proposed the following amendments:

that none of the bill's provisions would be enacted if the CBO determines that uncompensated care or job losses at local hospitals would increase

that none of the bill's provisions would be enacted if they increase the federal deficit or the the number of people without health insurance in the United States

that the bill remain publicly available on the Internet for at least 72 hours prior to a vote and that all members casting a vote first submit a recorded statement pledging that they have read the entire bill

that none of the bill's provisions can be enacted "unless and until" the CBO can show that the proposed plan will not increase the number of uninsured individuals

These amendments were each also tabled by the Republicans in party-line votes.

When Brady asked for a copy of the bill, Crowley passed down a poster-sized version, with the chairman's name crossed out in red and replaced with his own, which made both sides at the dais chuckle.

As to the bill's substance, Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio ) quipped that if his 9-year-old daughter could read 20 pages in 30 minutes surely members of the House could manage to quickly read the 57-page document.

He added later "this is not a 2000-page bill that we have to pass to know what's in it."

Democrats also introduced another amendment calling for "sufficient time to respond to a CBO score" which suggested that the law's impacts on the budget an on health coverage be publicly available online for 7 days prior to a House vote.

Then he answered his own question: Republicans did not want to wait for the CBO to show rates of uninsured Americans increasing, or to reveal that millions would get lower tax credits or that caps for Medicaid would hurt long-term beneficiaries and those with special needs.

The Chairman countered that the Affordable Care Act had not been scored before it received a vote, an argument some committee Democrats refuted. He also added that the House would not vote on the final bill without a CBO score.

Several members including the Ranking Minority Member Neal (D- Mass.) slammed the Republicans for their "bad policy" and "process," saying that the Republicans had hidden the bill in the basement of the capitol secured by armed guards.

Neal argued for a more transparent process, highlighting the 100 hours of House hearings that were held to discuss the ACA.

A House GOP aide said in an email that Republicans have been talking about repeal and replace for years and held over 30 hearings in the Ways and Means Committee alone since 2011.

"The policies in the American Health Care Act were laid out more than eight months ago when we unveiled A Better Way. And many of these ideas have been discussed through hearings ... and/or have already passed through the House," said the aide.

According to a press release from the Committee, the new replacement bill would repeal the taxes on health insurance premiums, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and medical devices.

While the bill's tax provisions made up only a fraction of the day's discussions, Democrats criticized the bill for giving tax breaks to the wealthy while reducing tax credits for needy families.

Rep. Sandy Levin ( D- Mich) introduced an amendment to block the proposed bill from including provisions that would increase taxes on families whose income is at or below $250,000.

Rep. Ron Kind (D- Wisc.) said the wealthiest 400 people in the country would each receive 8 million in tax breaks through the new bill paid for by cuts to Medicaid beneficiaries and by reducing tax credits.

The chairman said the amendment was "not germane" and it was tabled after another party-line vote.

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